


Long Day

by ARGentLady



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 17:53:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17146340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARGentLady/pseuds/ARGentLady
Summary: One shot, long day, Kya x Lin





	Long Day

She had lost track of time at the police station, after making sure a train hadn’t fallen off the tracks due to an explosion from an attempted robbery. Lin had wanted to go after the fire benders who were responsible and fleeing the scene, but then a child was dangling from the emergency escape. She had used her last cable to catch him and bring him to her. He held onto her leg for dear life after he landed. Her lip curled. Children.

Her cables were keeping the train tethered. Only when reinforcements arrived was she able to move again, releasing the weight that had threatened to rip her in two. By then, the gang was long gone, and she could only safely evacuate the train. She’d been filing reports due to the incident all day after making sure first responding water benders were able to heal those injured. She had ordered and oversaw her men and assisted in the crowd control. They temporarily stabilized the track with earth bending until they could be properly fixed.

She hadn’t thought to even look at the clock as she left the station without formally dismissing her men, of which she made a habit of doing, in order to make it to the restaurant. She had promised Kya she would meet her there. It wasn’t a date, she lied. She’d forgotten.

She usually made a habit of not unnecessarily using her cables, unless her temper flared. As much as they were a part of her, she wouldn’t use them for anything that she could do for herself. Until today. When walking turned to shuffling, and then into full blown sprinting, she realized the cable’s necessity, because even then she wasn’t fast enough. To make up time, she reasoned. It was for Kya. That’s what made it worth it.

Plummeting through the skies and meeting once again with the earth, Lin used one more tethered swing before coming to a smooth landing outside the doors. She remembered when her over-eagerness and perceived invincible nature, which came from the pride of a hardheaded child, had her swinging into buildings, creating destruction in her wake for the sake of intimidation and a stylish flourish of a landing. Now, she fixed her hair and intentionally slowed her stride to regain her composure.

She was blunt with her host as she supplied the name for the reservation. She saw the host blink and shrink away from her, as people so often did due to her intense and crude mannerisms. She shut down the apology that followed with a snarl, which explained that the reservation had been for two hours ago. Of course kya would have left.

Lin’s ears burnt with her embarrassment, and her anger flared over her shortcomings as she stalked off. Whenever she had a good thing, she set herself up for failure. She got her hopes up. When would she learn? She wasn’t good with people. And she didn’t do relationships.

***

“Lin!” The night air was pierced by a voice of concern, leaning toward desperation. Lin marched farther. Exasperated, the voice shouted at her again, despite her remaining indignant. Suddenly cool water splashed her uniform of armor, which made her snap. She whirled around, biting: “Freeze! You’re under arrest” before lurching herself with the earth At the perpetrator.

She collided in a tangle of water bending dresses and legs, managing to get her hands caught in long silver hair.

“Kya!” Kya laughed, shoving Lin’s shoulder hard.

“Do you make a habit of arresting people you haven’t seen?”

“Do you make a habit of assaulting people? It could have been an ambush. This city is my pride and joy, but it is not safe.”

“As if that happens to you. I petty anyone foolish enough to cross lin beifong.” Kya smiled up at lin, who was hovering above her, even still. The light that had formed around her eyes retracted, and the whisper of smile (as much as a slight and sarcastic curve of Lin’s upper lip could be considered a smile) had also disappeared as Lin rolled away from her. They began sitting in their new positions, facing each other. A satomobile drove around them, honking an angry horn.

“Kya, I’m sorry.”

“For which part? You’ll have to be more specific.”

“I’m sorry for standing you up. I’m sorry for disappointing you. I’m sorry for tackling you. I’m sorry but I don’t think I can do this.”

Lin stood up abruptly, separating them further. Kya felt as if the foundation had given out from under her. Once lin was determined, she couldn’t be swayed. Kya wanted to make sure the reasons were correct first.

“ what can’t you do?” Lin huffed and brought her hand to her face to hide it.

Finally, Kya really had the chance to look at her and saw the bruising, the strain it was taking lin to move and keep herself standing. She sensed her aura was off and that lin was separated from her balance. In the past, lin had always seemed to be solid. She had been Kya’s rock. It was unlike her.

Kya reached for Lin despite Lin’s hyperventilating and standoffish attitude, all the while hearing the other mutter under her breath and repeating that she couldn’t do this. “What happened today?” Kya was massaging her muscles and assessing the damage and working out kinks with a keen eye as she opened her flask to use her water bending technique to begin healing the damage she saw taking a toll on Lin’s strained body.

“Feel like I was hit with a train” Lin laughed as if she had made a joke.

Normally, Lin did not like to be unnaturally healed and would have normally stopped Kya. The glowing water soothed and relieved her ache and torn muscles, making her slowly feel whole again. She watched it suspiciously, before giving in to Kya’s touch. Her eyes grew heavy and closed.

Kya’s fingers rested on her cheek, soothing her scar. Lin felt as if she had been kissed.

***

 

Lin woke up the next morning with Kya facing her in the circle of Lin’s arms. She lifted her head to gain her bearings, wondering how they had made it back here. She saw that her door knob was jammed from her position on her bed. She was falling for a criminal.

When Lin turned back, the object of her attention looked back at her. “I have to get up for work. I didn’t mean to wake you.” She began to move, but Kya held her fast.

“Not today, you aren’t. I called you off. I used one of your vacation days.”

Lin’s feet slammed to the floor and she whirled on Kya.

“ what!?! Kya- I have a responsibility- we can’t all be hipp-”

“- Lin, do not finish that sentence.”  
Great. She was falling in love with a criminal who was also a hippie.  
“Besides, you hard headed mule, do you know how many vacation days you have saved up? When was the last time you took off? And I found out what happened yesterday. You should have gotten one of the healers to check on you. Why didn’t you?”

Lin couldn’t remember her last day off, and had no clue how many vacation days she had saved. She answered the most relevant question gruffly and with a dismissive shrug,  
“There were injured civilians, children who needed it more. I had work to do. And I don’t trust just anybody with that water bender magic.”

Kya’s soothing eyes stared hard at her before correcting , “Well now your only job is to sleep. There’s no work for you to do.” Kya got the message loud and clear: Lin trusted her and believed in her abilities and she was to stay put with a beautiful water bender in her bed. There were worse things.

Kya began to turn away from her, while tugging Lin back to lay down. Using the momentum, Lin switched sides with Kya in order to face her. She lifted Kya’s chin with two fingers. She was determined.

“I’m sorry for habitually upsetting you. But there is one thing I have to do.” Lin kissed Kya with all the ferocity in her soul, her frustration ebbing away and leaving her content while color began to come back into her world. She had been running on fumes. Kya was right. She could take the day off. If that meant spending it like this.


End file.
